Hulkenberg gets 'the maximum' out of Sauber

Nico Hulkenberg said that he got "the maximum" out of his Sauber in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.

Having been strong all weekend, Hulkenberg qualified in fourth place in Austin ahead of both Mercedes, Ferraris and McLarens. His result is only bettered by a third place in Monza, and Hulkenberg said he was pleased to be able to get the most out of his car.

"I have felt comfortable with the car over the whole weekend, but it was a different story in Q1 and Q2, as the wind picked up compared to FP3 this morning," Hulkenberg said. "It was a tail wind out of turn one and, therefore, also sector one and a bit in sector two.

"It was tricky, because our car is pretty sensitive to wind. But we made a few changes to it and put it all together in Q3. I think this was the maximum today for us and I am happy with my lap. P4 is a good position to start the race from tomorrow."

Before the stewards handed Esteban Gutierrez a 10-place grid penalty, team principal Monisha Kaltenborn was delighted to have two cars in Q3.

"This is a fantastic qualifying result!" she said. "It's great that the team is able to continue its momentum, and with both cars. This puts us in an excellent position for the race tomorrow."